Finding Inspiration ....

I LOVE THIS! And I found this at the right time... no matter how badly I want to quit, I can't because tomorrow is another break-through, another chance for greatness, another day closer to my goal.

I made lots of copies of this. There is one in my bathroom, one in my closet, one of the fridge... anyplace in my house where I feel discouraged or temptation. 

So last month I moved my elliptical machine and it's now facing a wall, and let's me honest no one wants to stare at a wall even if they are wearing an iPod. So I decided that every month I would add a little inspiration to my wall. I'm a calorie burning woman on a mission to lose the pounds and an attractive (slightly nude) man was exactly what I need to stay on that machine. So this month my inspiration is non other than super studly, Olympic swimmer Anthony Ervin:

Let me tell you how awesome and inspiring he is 

• his tats are and glasses giving me hipster realness
• he wears pretty panties swim trunks
• he's a Cal alum/swimmer ...what's in that water at Cal Berkeley they have an awesome swim program that but do they also require their males to be completely gorgeous (have you seen Nathan Adrian??)
• his hair (wow do I sound like a fan girl???)
• this is the kind of cat that I can see myself sitting down with a cup of tea having a deep, meaningful conversation with
• he swims the 50 Meter
• his story is completely inspiring 

I'm always to say that weight has been a life-long issue for me. There has never been a time when I haven't been fat. Okay that's not true, there were a few years when I was normal weight as referenced in this picture (I was so ahead of my time fashion wise... how many little kids do you know that can rock a periwinkle swing trench-coat?)

I always remembered high school fondly, and I guess I sugar coated it by "remembering" myself with an athletic build..I don't even think I look the same, in all fairness I have been through a life-time of medical issues since then (numerous illnesses, hospitalizations, and two liver transplants). And in my lifetime I have been anywhere from 160 to 300 pounds... strangely enough before I decided to actively lose weight I was larger than I was in that picture (I estimate I was 250 lbs in that photo)

Tyra @ 17                                          Tyra @ 35

So why is this so inspiring? It reminds me that I've come s long way...and still have a long way to go!

About a week ago Sunshine proposed a challenge to her teams to create a collage as part of a contest. I've used this silhouette before in a collage that was in this post and thought that it would be perfect for the contest. The theme: Different Women, One Goal. I think at the end of the day that sums up the Blue Team. I love them, they inspire me EVERY day. We share our challenges and our successes and it makes this journey so much easier to travel. I can say 100% that if I didn't have the support I would have gotten this far, and would have quiet a long time ago. 

Inspiration is Everywhere, even online.

"Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement."
Brian Tracy, Eat that Frog

1 month, 300 miles, flabby arms and a NSV!!

I've been participating in the Forrest Gump Invitational over at SJT199 and today I hit my personal best as far as miles walked in a month... 300 miles. And to be honest... I felt every single freakin' mile. I have never been shy about telling anyone that I hate exercising. I don't like to sweat... and at the end of the day I am super duper lazy! Sweating is not attractive, breathing hard is not attractive.... but I do it because I made to commitment *sigh*

Holy heat wave batman...
So I've come to the conclusion that heat is not my friend... I was miserable, I didn't have the energy to do anything, exercising outside was dangerous and to add insult to injury I swelled up like a water balloon ready to burst.. So far this summer has been brutal and I have a feeling that we are gonna experience more extreme heat before the summer is up, I think that might be the perfect time for me to  check out Netflix (for their assortment of exercise tapes) or do some yoga

ugh!!!

I've decided to stop complaining... and finally do something about my flabby "flags" arms. So first let me show you the hot mess that my arms have become (brace yourself peeps... this ain't pretty).. YUCK!!!!!!
There is   clear line of demarcation of where the muscle is and where in "empty" flab begin...or as I like the say, "the line where the doctor is gonna cut it off" (Plastic surgery is not on my radar... but it may be once I marry my 89 year old fiancee...I kid...I kid!!!), So I do what I always do...I complained until someone told me what to do... and boy did I hate the answer I got ..PUSH-UPS...

So let me share with you a secret, push-ups scare me, I have visuals of basic training and some man yelling at my while I'm crying...plus I honestly don't think my arms are strong enough to hold all my body weight just yet... and I really like my wrists and don't want to break them... So I did a search for a modified version until I strong enough to do the real thing... I think I can do this...

I also found some other awesome tips on the Livestrong website that I'm going to try.

So on to something a little bit less depressing during the heat wave I had my another NSV...I wore shorts!!! ..okay so let me clarify that I did in fact wear shorts last year at a water park... but let's me honest... it was either walking around in a swimsuit or wear some shorts...I will choose shorts every single time...

So I've had this pair of shorts for years and putting them on last summer was a no-no... I couldn't even get them over my hips and they were super tight on the thighs..so with the heat index reaching 110 degrees I was of the mind the less amount of clothing the better...

Let's back up for a minute... something happened after I turned 30 I decided that I was too old for shorts... so I stopped wearing any shorts that hit above the knee..so when i put these on and didn't feel like a big fat blob I was elated. There is room for improvement... but I'm totally digging the fact that I can fit and feel confident enough to wear these shorts (YAY ME!!)... Enough about the shorts time to work on my arms!!

As always, when you know better you do better!